I want to talk to you about a case I recently won. It was approximately a month ago that the judgment came out. And what happened in this particular is, the client was charged with impaired care or control and care or control blowing over 80 milligrams. It was a, extremely complicated case and an extended over many days. That was surprising because most impaired cases can complete in a day and sometimes less, maybe two days at the most. But this was probably one of the most complex cases I’ve ever been involved in. It required written submissions. It required a plethora of just multiple of Charter applications.Now fortunately, issues three to ten, the judge didn’t even have to address because we won on issue one and two. I wanted to briefly talk about those. First of all, my client was found sleeping in his motor vehicle with the ignition on and it was about 3:00 in the morning and his, his seat was extended back so he’s completely asleep. The police came upon him, and the arresting officer claims that he had certain symptoms. He claimed slurring his speech, unsteadiness, all sorts of symptoms which would, if believed, if true, would lead to impaired driving.

Now, the problem with the Crown’s case is first of all, I was able to cross-examine that police officer to show weaknesses in the inconsistency in her statement. And I was also able to contrast her version of events with the officer who attended with her. He wasn’t seeing those symptoms. So, the judge ultimately found she was not a credible and reliable witness. They should have used an alco test which is a roadside screening device instead of arresting him. They didn’t do that. The breath samples were thrown out. So, we won on that basis.

We also won on a second basis, you could win on either basis. He had asked for a particular lawyer at the scene, and brought back to the police station. They phoned that lawyer a couple of times and he was asking a lot of questions on the videotape. The Crown attorney was trying to show that he was playing games. He wasn’t playing games. He was asking for his rights. The police were treating him brutally and unprofessionally and we were able to demonstrate this very clearly.

The judge came down and the police officer said. “Look, you did not implement his rights to counsel correctly.” Ultimately, he spoke to duty counsel but he was dissatisfied with the duty counsel. Reiterated his rights. And we argued this over many days and the Crown was shocked that we won the, the, frankly. But we pulled out all the stops and this person’s career was on the line and we ultimately won.

So, we’re very pleased to report that. This person, can get on with his life and a message went out to the police in this particular county that you that look, if you’re going to arrest people for impaired driving, you have to do it right or it’s going to be thrown out of court. And those are the rights we enjoy in a democratic society. And if you’re charged with impaired driving, we’re going to and you hire us, we are going to pull out all the stops to win your case.

By Published On: August 1, 2023Last Updated: July 18, 2024Categories: General, Video

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